As a rule I try to practice what I preach. I also like to try everything that I can before I recommend it to a client, because if I can’t do it, I’m surely not going to recommend it to my clients. Following my own advice, I decided it was time to embark on the Autoimmune Paleo (AIP) rotation diet I’d been procrastinating on. I’ve been having odd symptoms such as single itchy, red, bumps that look like bug bites that show up on the flexor surfaces of my body (think areas with creases like arms, hands, legs, etc.), mild acne, occasional sleep issues, and an irritated tongue with certain foods.

I put it off like most people because there wasn’t a good time- family events, my birthday, travel… the list was long. Timing is just a ridiculous excuse. No time is ever a really good time- you just need to do it. With the gentle nudging from a good friend that is a hard core advocate of the diet, I jumped in.

It required much preparation and planning, but now that I’m one full week into it there’s no problem. I’ll admit I was hesitant because my mornings are busy with a toddler I have to get ready for school, getting myself ready, and work. I had to add food prep to this, but now it’s a cinch since I pre-planned my menu for the week and will sometimes cook things the night before. I’ve developed a rhythm and it’s working, which truly is one of the keys to success of any protocol or habit change.

I thought it would be interesting to share the details of my experience with you since I often ask people to rotate their diet on an SCD, GAPS, Paleo, AIP, FODMAP, or low histamine diet. So here it goes!

The first 2 days sucked! I was tired, brain was foggy, and I was still really itchy. Day 2 was actually worse because I got a headache to boot. This isn’t unusual and I expected it, because anytime you change inputs to the body you often get push back. I suspect my symptoms were largely due to no coffee, less carbs, less total calories, and possible detoxification shifts. A bonus was that I felt completely satiated all day long both days and this NEVER happens for me.

Days 3 and 4 I felt much better- clear brain, more energy, and my itching had decreased. Yay! The only negatives were a little bit of a runny nose with meals and I was extra sore from workouts since I wasn’t having my regular post workout shake. I decide to add in a smaller 4th daily meal right after the workout which helped.

Day 5 was similar to days 3 and 4, but I didn’t have a bowel movement. Red flag! That’s not what I want to see happening and I wasn’t sure why… yet.

I went downhill fast on day 6 and the lack of bowel movements continued. That morning after I ate my breakfast I was super itchy, got an actual hive for the first time, my runny nose was out of control, my tongue was irritated, and I slept horribly. The light bulb went off in my head and I realized I had eaten foods that I had long suspected I had issues with (plantains and avocado) or those with higher histamines (shellfish) over the previous few days. This was enough to trigger a fairly significant inflammatory reaction in my body. I took some anti-inflammatory enzymes, DAO, high dose vitamin C and fish oil which got the reaction to calm down in less than 12 hours. This illustrates a huge point I always tell my clients: even though a diet says you can eat a food, it may not be tolerated by your body!! We all need to individualize our diets for our own needs.

Day 7 was definitely better. The hive was gone, the itching and runny nose significantly decreased, sleep was better, and the BMs returned! I’m still feeling completely satiated on 3-4 simple, whole food based meals per day and I’m back on track. Next week I’ll report back on my progress and talk about how to deal with workouts and performance on diets like this.

The truth about healing is that it’s hard and often very frustrating for those going through it. I get questions from my patients on a daily basis about the progress of their healing journey. I refer to it as a journey and not a process because it truly is something that dramatically impacts your life and becomes a part of who you are. It encompasses serious self-analysis, lifestyle and habit changes, and often therapeutic interventions to change physiology and gene expression. People don’t understand why a certain protocol, lifestyle or dietary change is making them feel worse or isn’t working. That’s when I launch into the discussion about individuality, as well as the difficult truth: healing is hard.

There are a few things that many practitioners don’t like to talk about and a big one is the difficulty of the healing journey. This does patients a disservice because they need to understand that healing takes time, effort, and often a good amount of detective work because finding the root causes can be challenging when they’re buried under years of symptoms and physiological adaptations that have occurred as your body works hard to right the ship to keep it afloat. The body often does a good job of this unbeknownst to you since there are many built in back up processes always aiming to keep you alive and as healthy as possible. However, when the insults become too numerous, changes start to happen. It generally isn’t until the boat has “sprung a leak” that you feel bad enough to do something about it. This process can take years or even decades to develop, so reversing it is hard and often takes years as well. Don’t worry though, healing can and will take place- it just takes time, effort, and perseverance.

There are ways to make the journey easier, saving time, energy, and money. Some of the work regarding diet and lifestyle can be started on your own, but if you have a complex or chronic case, working with someone else will likely save you lots of frustration.

Work with a trained practitioner that understands your case. There is abundant information available on the internet that allows you to research who is the right fit for you, which is very important. Additionally, if the practitioners you’re looking at do free consults or Q&A sessions to see if you’re a good match, take advantage of that.

Doing a complete functional medicine assessment illuminates the journey for the practitioner and the patient. Going back in time starting with pre-birth and pertinent parental history, then walking through birth, childhood, and adulthood in detail allows a timeline to develop that shows major illnesses, exposures, traumas, habits and life events that eventually snowballed into how you feel today. Always tell your practitioner the entire story and truth so you have a complete timeline and don’t need to waste time backtracking once you’re on your healing journey. What may seem insignificant to you, may be of massive importance to your practitioner in uncovering potential causes.

Complete necessary testing to avoid frustration and guessing. Many well intentioned practitioners treat without testing. This isn’t a good idea in chronic cases where the symptoms of conditions are very similar. A good example is with digestive symptoms- diarrhea, gas, and bloating can be cause by many things including SIBO, yeast, parasites, food allergies or intolerances, exposures to toxins, altered microbiome, autoimmunity, etc. Often several of these are occurring simultaneously. Testing allows you to have a more targeted therapeutic plan.

Develop a game plan that works for you and your practitioner. If you don’t think you can handle certain aspects of the treatment plan, let your practitioner know. Most will accommodate your wishes whenever possible- but be honest with yourself. Do you want to alter treatment because you don’t want to do it (such as eliminate foods from your diet) or truly can’t. These are some of the hard truths we have to face when healing. Eliminating foods from your diet and changing your stress response, exercise, and sleeping habits may be challenging at first, but eventually they’ll become habit… it does get easier.

Stick to your guns when temptation strikes. When other people try to sway you away from your healing path, don’t let them. You probably look much better on the outside than you feel on the inside, and they just won’t understand because they’ve never been through it. Sometimes people just flat out ignore what you tell them. Don’t let them ruin what you’ve worked hard for.

Develop strategies for social situations. Hopefully your family understands your journey, but outside the home can be more difficult. If you are going to a social event, preplan and research as much as possible to avoid speedbumps that slow healing. For example, offer to bring some appetizers to the Super Bowl party you’ll be attending so you have something you know is safe for your diet. Additionally, you can make the host aware of your situation and he/she will likely consider you when planning.

Avoid doctor Google. While the internet is an amazing tool for research and empowering yourself, too often people compare themselves to others that were “miraculously cured” by taking a supplement or going on a special protocol. This occurs much less often than you think, and some of these people are leaving out serious details or just plain lying. The truth is that you and every single other person on this planet on genetically and epigenetically different which means you won’t have the same response to supplements, diet, and lifestyle changes. Eliminate your frustration by not comparing yourself to them since you don’t know the details of their history. Also important to note is that on certain sites some of these seemingly honest testimonials come from people that are paid by companies with motives and agendas. The key to healing is doing what is best for YOU (the insert-your-name-here protocol).

Be honest with your practitioner when they ask if you’ve followed the treatment plan. Avoiding the truth will make it more difficult for you and your practitioner to figure out what isn’t working when problems arise (and they will).

Understand that there will be bumps in the road along the path to healing. There is a reason the terms “healing arts” and “practicing medicine” exist- there is no magic pill or protocol that will fix you so as practitioners we must analyze the information and make our best effort to design a treatment plan for you. Since everyone is a unique individual and there’s still so much we don’t know about the human body, it may take some time and effort to find and address all root causes. Additionally, it takes time to change physiology which is imperative to healing. There is often pushback in the form of reactions and additional or increased symptoms while the body adjusts. This is normal and expected, so unfortunately you have to push through it most of the time. If the symptoms last for an extended period or are severe then treatment should be adjusted.

Be kind to yourself during the journey. We are often our worst critics. Don’t beat yourself up over missing a dose of supplements or not getting to bed on time one night. Life happens! Acknowledge the mishap, forgive yourself, forget it and get back on your plan. Stressing will only make the situation worse and prolong your healing.

Following the above can help make your healing journey smoother and also give you an understanding that healing doesn’t occur overnight. The analogy I often use is the healing is a marathon and not a sprint. There are hills and valleys, but in time the road becomes smooth, you hit your stride and things get easier. Eventually you round a corner where you feel good more often than not, which is a good sign that the finish line is near. For some it takes months, but for others it can take years. There is no way to predict how long, but if you’ve felt poorly for years, it may take years to heal. But take heart in knowing that it’s possible since so many before you have.

Yesterday my sister had a baby boy… Congrats! It got me thinking about the fresh start we have when we enter this world. The human body is truly astounding. We are inherently born with amazing capabilities that allow us to grow and thrive in spite of the constant insults we hurl at it in the forms of stress, poor eating and sleep habits, lack of movement, not enough time with nature, insufficient meaningful human contact, and the increasing abundance of toxins and pollution in our environment (inside as well as outside).

Unfortunately, the rate at which we are abusing our bodies is catching up with us. There are more chronic diseases now than ever before, and sadly that rate is increasing. We are producing generations now that have a lower life expectancy than we have and our grandparents had. This is not acceptable.

This is by no means is this a news flash, but is worth being said over and over again until people take heart and the message sinks in. LIFESTYLE MATTERS. I’ll say it again, LIFESTYLE MATTERS. Perhaps more than anything else. No supplement, diet, or workout alone will do this.

Being healthy doesn’t involve drinking warm lemon water every morning or doing a 2 week detox or even running 3 times per week. While those can be healthy actions, what really matters is HOW you choose to live your daily life- the habits that become part of the fabric of what makes you, YOU. This is what will bring out the best you because it will improve your epigenetics, or how your genes are expressed. Wouldn’t you rather have genes “bathed” in clean air, water, and nutrients in a body not ravaged by stress or illness? Yes, please!

Actually doing this does take time and effort. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy and health exists on a continuum. The key is shifting the balance in favor of health, so that when an unforeseen stressor or illness arises, you have the capacity to rebound quickly and return to your healthy place.

By now everyone knows they should consume clean food and water, and get proper sleep and adequate daily movement, but I know countless unhealthy people that do all of that on a daily basis. These are definitely important pieces of the puzzle, but to experience true health you need some other fundamental components: true stress reduction and mitigation, a clean environment, and connections with nature and people.

Real Stress Reduction. Stress is a common buzz word, so much so that I believe it has lost its impact and we’ve become desensitized to it. The majority of patients and people I encounter believe to some extent they are managing it well, which is almost never the case. The truth is that real, measurable stress reduction is hard. Stress is inevitable, but how you deal with it is essential. The first step involves honest introspection to identify your stressors, be it relationships, work, finances, losses, past traumas, etc., and finding ways that work for you specifically to overcome them. This could be counseling, talking to a confidant, joining a support group, enlisting a coach, or self-education. For others, physical activity plays a big role in their management of stress.

The second step is having a daily ritual that involves taking “timeouts” to unplug and do some deep breathing, meditation, or even sitting in silence to clear your head. Helpful tip: if you can’t get away from people, go to the bathroom… it always works because no one questions you.

Clean Environment (in and outside your body). This is a broad topic that is often overlooked, but it can have a significant impact on your health since the indoor environment is often more polluted than outdoors. Thankfully you can fairly easily clean up your home and work environment. Here are some helpful strategies:

– Clean air ducts and replace filters regularly

– Ensure proper ventilation in dwellings

– Invest in house plants or air purification systems that clean the air

– Do proper mitigation if you have mold, radon, lead paint or pipes, etc.

– Reduce exposure to EMF (electromagnetic frequencies) by reducing cell phone use, unplugging all unnecessary appliances and electronics when not in use (especially in the bedroom while sleeping at night), limit Wi-Fi use and turn off when not using it, avoid using a microwave, and choose incandescent bulbs over compact fluorescent ones.

Connection with nature and people. Exposure to sunlight, as well as seeing and hearing the sights and sounds of nature are part of what makes us human. Most people are calmed by the sounds of a rushing river or crashing waves, invigorated when the cool breeze hits their face, or moved at the majesty of mountains or a beautiful forest. There are biological reasons for this. Our ancestors had a strong connection to the natural world and used it as means to survive. It guided them to set up dwellings near water and green space as resources were more abundant there. This environment likely also allowed them to recover from the stresses of living life at this time as well.

Our rapid evolution in the last several millennia has dramatically reduced our contact with nature and we are suffering the consequences. Technology has replaced our relationship with nature… and with other humans.

Connection with other humans is another factor that has ensured our survival throughout time. We are communal animals by nature. We now share more face time with our computers, tv’s, cell phones, and tablet devices than other humans which is hurting us. Studies show that a sense of community and having solid relationships with others is important to health and longevity. Make an effort to build and maintain your relationships with others and respect people while they are with you by not having your phone in your face. Also, be kind to your fellow humans as well… there isn’t enough of that anymore.

Again, take time to unplug daily. Get outside- even in the winter months. Grab your family or friends and take a walk through the woods and leave your phone at home. Have a “no devices present” rule at meals. There are countless ways to take back your connections.

Here’s to living a cleaner and less technologically driven life while being more present and connected to what really matters!

We can thank the ancient Babylonians for the practice of making resolutions as we enter each new year. The flooding of the Nile river (which was actually in March) symbolized the beginning of a new harvest season and they vowed to the gods to repay debts and return borrowed items in hopes of having a fertile and prosperous year. Eventually the Romans changed the calendar and January 1st became the start of the new year. Though the date has changed, for over 4,000 years humans across the globe have been making resolutions with the promise of a clean slate and new beginnings. There’s a problem with this process though- most people fail to meet their goal, making them a joke to some people and a purely negative experience for others.

Here are 7 easy steps to help you successfully achieve your New Year’s Resolution:

Pick a goal you know is manageable and you’ll have success achieving. Weight loss is a very common resolution, but how you go about achieving it will set you up for failure or success. If you know you won’t be able to lose 20 pounds in 3 months, don’t choose it. Instead, make your goal to lose 10 pounds in 3 months. If you lose more, that’s a bonus (and hopefully you will have established some new, healthy habits along the way too).

Clearly define your goal and make it measurable. If your goal is to lose 10 pounds in 3 months, aim for losing one pound per week. This will set you up for success and give you something to track weekly.

Set action steps and track your progress. Weight loss is 90% about diet so plan out how you’re going to change your diet and plan out your meals each week. Eliminating anything processed and eating whole foods is a good place to start. Increasing your lean proteins, healthy fats, and vegetables, while reducing sugars (even from fruit) works well for most people. Incorporating exercise, stress reduction, and good sleep habits will further ensure success, so these can be steps in you process too.

Tell others about your goal to keep yourself accountable. Post it on social media or tell your friends and family. You can post updates and pictures to track progress and let them cheer you on.

Enlist the help of others that have been successful before you or those that will support you on your journey. If you have a family member or friend that has a similar goal, you can help each other through the process since we are typically more successful when we have a buddy. Alternatively, use a coach or a trained professional to help you reach your goal. They will have a plan and built in metrics to track your progress, as well as invaluable information when you encounter plateaus and obstacles on your journey.

Give yourself small rewards as you reach milestones. If you want to lose one pound per week for 3 months, give yourself a small reward at the end of each of the 3 months.

Celebrate once you achieve your goal! Be proud when you’ve kept your resolution and keep up the good work. At this point your lifestyle changes should’ve become habit. Contrary to the commonly held belief that it takes 21 days to form a new habit, research now suggests it is more like 66 days. The truth is that it’s different for all people and it is probably somewhere between 21-66 days.

If you habitually start a resolution and give up, maybe you shouldn’t make one. This way you’re not setting yourself up for failure and you won’t feel defeated. It’s perfectly fine not to have one. In fact, not setting a resolution might be liberating for you. When you decide to make a change or want to reach a goal, you can do it when you are ready. There’s no rule that says it has to be on January 1st or even at the beginning of the year. Have a wonderful new year whether you chose to have a resolution or not!

Winter has arrived in most parts of the country which means less exposure to one of the components essential to life- sunlight. Before there was electricity and countless devices to awaken us (or prevent us from sleeping), humans relied on the sun to regulate body rhythms. Our brains are hard wired to know the time of year based on exposure to morning light. Total sunlight exposure is a key factor in regulation of many hormones including cortisol, serotonin, and melatonin. Too much or too little can throw the entire system out of balance.

Sunlight stimulates the production of cortisol and serotonin, while dimness and darkness promote melatonin production. As with all hormone function, cortisol, serotonin, and melatonin work in concert with each other to regulate circadian rhythms. Exposure to early morning light triggers cortisol and serotonin to increase. Cortisol wakes you up and gets you moving, while serotonin helps you regain consciousness. Cortisol decreases throughout the morning and early afternoon, then jumps up a little again in mid afternoon before declining again in preparation for sleep. Serotonin remains elevated after cortisol’s initial dip earlier in the day and declines in the afternoon as exposure to light decreases. At this point the brain begins to convert serotonin into melatonin in preparation for rest and sleep.

It seems easy enough to expose yourself to light and darkness at the right time, but modern technology and habits, coupled with the seasonal changes can wreak havoc on your mood, sleep, and immune function. If you suffer from adrenal fatigue, lack of energy, sleep problems, or seasonal mood changes, then getting proper exposure to light and darkness is key in rebalancing the hormone symphony.

Here are 5 steps to achieve this:

1. Let your body awaken to sunlight rather than an alarm. Even when your eyes are shut, light penetrates the eyelid and stimulates the brain beginning the awakening process. If you can’t do this because it’s winter or your room just doesn’t get much light, consider getting a sunrise alarm clock. These use light to gradually wake you up and many models include sound too.

2. Expose yourself to sunlight within 30 minutes of waking. After waking up, try to get outside for 20-30 minutes to reinforce the cortisol awakening response (CAR). It’s thought that the CAR occurs to get you prepared for the stresses of the day and it’s superimposed on the sleep-wake cycle hormone patterns.

3. If you can’t get outside, consider getting a light therapy lamp. These are portable devices allowing you to bring it in bathroom as you get ready for work or eat breakfast. Be sure to get a model that emits 10,000 lux (equivalent to full daylight) that’s on a stand so the light is coming into your eyes from above as the sun would be.

4. Avoid electronics in the evening and at night. The blue light emitted from phones, tablets, computer, televisions, and other electronics interferes with the natural hormone rhythms. It suppresses melatonin production and can increase cortisol which both prevent you from sleeping. If you must use your gadgets, there are a couple of options to filter the blue light. You can use apps like Twilight or Flux which acts as filters on the screen of your devices or you can pick up a pair of glasses with orange or amber lens for less than $10.

5. Keep the lights in your home dim at night. Try keeping most of your lights off or if you have dimmer switches, use those to keep the light at a lower level to support melatonin production.

Inflammation may be the most common term used in all arenas of health now, and deservedly so since we know that it’s the underlying cause of almost every chronic disease on earth. Inflammation is your body’s response to danger signals, sounding the alarms to trigger biochemical processes to keep you alive in times of infection, injury, and trauma. This acute response is a healthy, normal process that is necessary for life. The key is that it begins and ends.

Chronic inflammation differs from the acute response in that it persists without end in response to foods, hidden infections, toxins, nutrient or hormone imbalances, or inefficient physiological mechanisms that would normally counteract inflammation. It’s the type of inflammation associated with disease. The most significant problem associated with chronic inflammation is that it’s largely silent, often causing destruction for many before it’s detected. During the time it is under the radar, the seeds of chronic disease have been planted and one day you wake up with achy joints and muscles, a headache, and digestive issues. You think to yourself, “Did I eat something bad or catch a bug?” All the while, this process has been building for years unbeknownst to you.

When these symptoms hang around for longer than a week or two, that’s the first clue this isn’t an acute infection or food poisoning. What do you do next?

The key to reversing chronic inflammation is identifying all possible causes and healing them, which often can be a long process. Working with an experienced practitioner can help you decide what treatments and lifestyle interventions are necessary after a thorough history and appropriate labs have been completed. In the meantime, there are several simple things you can do to begin tipping the inflammation scale in your favor.

Start on a basic anti-inflammatory diet. At a minimum, eliminate all gluten, dairy, soy, and sugar for at least 4 weeks. An organic, whole foods based diet consisting of healthy proteins, fats and high levels of plant foods is inherently anti-inflammatory. If you find that you still have some level of inflammation or other symptoms, you may need to eliminate some of the other common allergens such as corn, nuts, eggs, or fish. Also consider eliminating foods you eat frequently because even though they may not be common allergens or sensitizers, they could be causing an immune response in you.

Vitamin D3 is often deficient in people with autoimmune or chronic conditions. Vitamin D is a strong immune system modulator, especially with regard to its anti-inflammatory capacity. It also supports healthy gut flora, promotes gut barrier integrity, and activates adaptive immunity in the GI tract which all fortify a healthy inflammatory balance. Supplementing with high doses (10,000 IU per day) for a month to start. Be sure to monitor your 25(OH) Vitamin D serum levels aiming for a range of 50-80 ng/mL.

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) as fish oil, cod liver oil, or krill oil are important to the inflammatory response since humans don’t make them efficiently on their own. EFAs support the immune system by regulating the intensity and duration of the inflammatory response and decreasing the production of inflammation promoting compounds. Short term dosing at 3-6 g per day can help ramp up these effects, however caution should be taken when dosing above 3g daily if you take blood thinners or have a bleeding disorder.

Curcumin, green tea extract, and resveratrol all activate a potent anti-inflammatory pathway called Nrf2. They are far more effective at increasing antioxidant production than typical antioxidants, like Vitamin C or E, in their supplemental form. You can use these as individual supplements or in a combination product.

There are many other good supplements and foods that also decrease chronic inflammation, but the options listed above give you a relatively simple starting place. If you visit Dr. Google, the vast amount of information on treating chronic conditions and inflammation can be overwhelming, so spare yourself the confusion and stress.

Completing four weeks of an elimination/anti-inflammatory diet plus some support supplementation will give you a good idea of how advanced your situation is. If you are making good progress, keep doing what you’re doing, but drop the supplements down to maintenance doses. If you don’t feel better or only marginal improvement, then enlisting some help to dig into the causes may be necessary.

I have always been an observer and an analyzer. The other day I was watching my 33 month old son play and thought to myself, “I wish I had that much energy, joy, and creativity in my life.” As over-stressed, over-worked, and over-thinking adults, our health, especially adrenal function decreases with time as we let the joy of life slip away from us and focus only on being responsible and productive parents, family members, friends, and workers.

As I watched my son I realized that his body works perfectly now, as all of ours should, responding to signals from within and the environment. He (and his body) have yet to become maladapted to the demands of daily life.

We need to tune back in to the cues our body sends us and slow down enough to let it respond and heal.

Here are 8 ways to accomplish this:

Finding laughter, happiness, and joy again. If you watch children, especially toddlers, they are frequently laughing or smiling. Research tells us that laughter increases mood enhancing endorphins, increases oxygen intake, and reduces the stress hormone levels. Engage in activities and surround yourself with people that make you happy daily.

Engage your wonder and curiosity. Children are always exploring and asking questions to make sense of their vast world. As adults, we often shut this out and opt to function in a habitual way since it requires less thought and may be less threatening. Experiencing new things and allowing the brain to wonder produces physiological changes that reduce stress if we look at them the right way. Don’t let new experiences cause you anxiety or stress, embrace them instead.

Be creative and spontaneous. Toddlers are masters of pretend play and fantasy. They can make stick or a plain box into twenty different things within an hour. Their brains integrate new information and operate with a high level of plasticity, or flexibility, allowing them this mental freedom. When adults engage in creative activities such as art, music, writing, or fantasy/pretend play, different areas of the brain are stimulated that increase happiness and plasticity, while disrupting mental patterns of stress and anxiety. Doing a spontaneous activity or an unplanned adventure can have similar effects.

Honor your feelings. Toddlers, for better or worse, are always listening to the cues from their bodies and honoring their feelings which can produce anything from extreme laughter to a massive tantrum. As adults, we are trained to not operate in these extremes, and rightfully so, however, we also have a tendency to disregard what we feel which leads to many issues such as unresolved feelings, resentment, anger, frustration, and sadness. Over time, this drains the adrenal hormone resources producing adrenal fatigue or other chronic health conditions. Take time to acknowledge how you feel, and when appropriate, voice your feeling in a constructive manner.

Let it go. When toddlers are angry or frustrated, this isn’t a state they stay in for very long (usually). They get upset, let it out, and move on. Whatever it is that made them frustrated, angry, or sad is long forgotten. Most adults lost this capability long ago, but it’s something we need to re-learn. Obviously we need to process our emotions, but holding on to negative ones is damaging long term. Acknowledge the source of your frustration or anger, confront the person or situation if necessary, and let it go. If that isn’t an option, writing it out may help release it from your body as well.

Move and exert energy. Toddlers are little balls of energy, constantly on the go running, playing, and having fun. They aren’t camped out in front of the tv, computer, tablet, video games, or phone like older children and adults. Current research suggests that sitting and our general sedentary lifestyles are more harmful to health than smoking. Make time every day to get up and move- walk, run, hike, cycle, dance, skip, ice skate…. just move. Movement is essential to stress management and general health.

Eat only when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full. Have you ever noticed that children’s appetites fluctuate periodically or that they actually stop eating when they are full? Calorie intake fluctuates as kids’ metabolic demands change such as in times of growth and illness. Most kids inherently respond to the signals from their body and eat accordingly. We need to do the same since too little or too many calories places significant stress on the body.

Breathe with your belly. If you watch a baby or young child breath, their bellies rise much more than their chests do. This is naturally what breathing should look like, but as adults we tend to have shallow, chest breathing because of the chronic activation of the sympathetic, or “fight or flight,” side of our nervous system due to stress. Softening the diaphragm and actively belly breathing reverses this process by activating the parasympathetic, or “rest and digest,” side of the nervous system and consequently decreases the stress response.

The evidence that we are in an epidemic of chronic disease is overwhelming. According to a 2014 NIH study, life expectancy for the average American could decrease by as much as 5 years if the epidemic of obesity and chronic conditions aren’t addressed. As of 2012, the CDC reported that 50% of American adults have at least one chronic health condition, and 25% have 2 or more. Obesity rates for children ages 2-19 are about 20% and over 33%, or 78 million, for adults.

Sadly, even with this knowledge the rates of chronic inflammatory diseases such allergies, asthma, autoimmunity, arthritis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, obesity, and cancer continues to increase. This is not good news for us or our children.

Here are 4 important reasons we need to make changes:

Decreased life span. Parents don’t expect to outlive their children, but with the current rates of inflammatory based chronic disease this is happening, and will only get worse if we don’t do something to reverse this trend.

Decreased quality of life. The constant inflammation that drives the chronic disease process causes the majority of symptoms that affect quality of life. Joint and muscle pain, headaches, asthma, allergies, rashes, acne, fatigue, depression, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, and blood sugar and hormone imbalances are some of the many symptoms that affect for millions of people daily and are now seen in children.

Increased health care costs. Rising rates of chronic health conditions directly increases the cost of health care. The CDC reports in 2010, 86% of all health care spending was on chronic disease care. The cost of treating cardiovascular diseases was $315.4 billion and cancer care was $157 billion. The treatment of diabetes was estimated at $245 billion. If we don’t get healthier, healthcare will become increasingly unaffordable, especially for our children.

Continually passing on disease prone genetics. Our thoughts and choices directly impact gene expression (epigenetics), which is passed on to our children and future generations. Stress levels, nutrition, movement, sleep, thoughts, and the quality of our environment are factors we have control over, and if we don’t change, we will only compound the effects of what previous generations have given us.

What You Can Do

Every day we’re faced with hundreds of choices, and they bring us closer to health or disease. They have a cumulative impact that adds up over a lifetime and is passed on to future generations. Consider this- when you pick up fast food on the way home from a stressful day at work, then go home to sit on the couch for hours watching tv, you’re not only depleting your health and longevity, but that of your offspring as well. Those choices produce changes in your gene expression that promote disease and inflammation, and they are passed on to your kids.

Our daily life decisions are more important than ever before since we’re at a pivotal point in human history. By starting with some simple life choices, you have the power to reverse this trend.

Move. Moving your body is essential to health. You don’t have to run a marathon, you just have to move every day. Walking, hiking, stretching, yoga, pilates, biking, swimming, dancing, running, lifting weights, playing with your kids, or any sport are all great options. Change it up to keep from getting bored. If you can get outside into nature and be exposed to sunlight you’ll get even more health benefit.

Eat Well. The first step to eating well is eliminating processed foods. If it’s in a package with lots of ingredients, especially if you don’t know what they are, don’t eat it. Preservatives, dyes, food colorings, emulsifiers and other additives are linked to many inflammatory conditions including, ADD/ADHD, autoimmunity, diabetes, obesity, and cancer, among others. BPA and other chemicals found in plastics, linings of cans, and receipts are endocrine disruptors that are also associated with chronic diseases. The easiest way is to shop the perimeter of the store and stay out of the middle.

Choose organic and non-GMO (genetically modified) foods when financially possible. The Environmental Working Group puts out annual list called “The Dirty Dozen” that highlights crops with the highest pesticide residues http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty_dozen_list.php . Use this and their many other resources including their “Clean Fifteen” list as a starting place.

Sleep Well. Getting 7-8 hours of good quality sleep is essential to maintaining health. If you have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep, make sure you are creating an environment conducive to sleep. Make sure you’re in a quiet, dark, cool (65-68 F) room using a comfortable yet supportive bed and pillows. Before bed, keep the lights in your house dim and avoid blue light exposure from phones, tablets, television and other electronics by using screen filter apps such as Twilight or Flux, wearing amber or orange glasses, or just plain avoiding them.

Stress Less. This topic could have endless recommendations, so start with the basics first. Doing a 10 minute meditation once or twice daily can have profound impacts on your physiology, especially improving inflammatory markers. Unplug in a quiet space and think of a word or mantra that has great meaning to you. Your mind may drift which is normal, just acknowledge the thought, and refocus. If this isn’t your style try 10 minutes of deep, belly breathing. Instead of focusing on a word or mantra, you may just want to let your mind quiet down. If you prefer a more active form of stress release then walking in nature or daily journaling may work for you.

Detox Your Life. We are living in an extraordinarily toxic world now. We are exposed to toxins in our food, air, water, personal care products, cleaning products, clothing, toys, living and working spaces, as well as radiation through WiFi, electronics, and powerlines. All of these are associated with inflammation and chronic disease in various ways.

Your best bet is to minimize exposure starting with what you put on and in your body, then move out to your environment. Here are some easy places to begin:

Choose more natural cleaning and personal care products that don’t have preservatives, dyes, and chemicals you don’t understand. There are options available in stores, as well as homemade version that are often cheaper. The Environmental Working Group has the Skin Deep database http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ and EWG Verified products http://www.ewg.org/ewgverified/ to help you find out which products are best to use on your body.

Open your windows to detox the air in your home or work. Plants such as ivy and rubber plants help remove toxins from the air as well. If your home has old pipes or paint, or leaded glass, mold, or radon, remediation may be necessary.

Turn off your WiFi and 4G on all devices when possible. At night before you go to bed, turn off the WiFi in your home and unplug all electronics that can be, especially those in your bedroom.